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| The IOC commission has been meeting in Anif, a small village just a few minutes journey from the heart of Salzburg. (ATR) |
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(ATR) Members of the Salzburg 2014 bid team were up at dawn Saturday preparing presentations on the final day of an IOC Evaluation Commission visit that could make or break the bid for the Winter Olympic Games.
The final morning of presentations to the 16-member IOC delegation included security, media operations, medical services, technology and Olympism and culture. A total of 17 themes were presented to the commission since Wednesday, when it started work in Salzburg.
The IOC commission and Salzburg 2014 will both hold press conferences Saturday evening.
This is the last stop on the IOC tour of the three cities in the 2014 race. In February, the commission made similar stops in PyeongChang and Sochi.
When it leaves Salzburg on Sunday, the evaluation team will head to IOC headquarters in Lausanne to begin a two-day session that will result in the draft of their report to the full IOC. That report is due to be released on June 4, one month before the IOC vote.
The IOC commission made its final venue visits on Friday, spending the afternoon in the city, where ice arenas will be located, as well as the Olympic Village and Olympic Stadium.
The stopped first at the Volkgsgarten, the current home for the Salzburg hockey team, called the Red Bulls. The energy drink is based in Salzburg and also owns the city’s football team. The Red Bulls would move to a new arena on the south side of Salzburg planned for the Olympic bid.
Second stop was the Salzburg convention center that will hold the Main Media Center. Adjacent is the new Salzburg Arena for curling.
A few minutes away, the Lifering venue site is an open field designated for a figure skating arena that will remain after the Games and a speed skating track that will be temporary. Salzburg organizers plan to turn Liefering into a recreational complex as an Olympic legacy.
Also nearby, the Olympic Village site was the next stop for the IOC group. The site is currently used by the military as a barracks and training center. Location is adjacent to the autobahn for travel to venues and within 10 minutes of the Salzburg Airport.
The final stop of the afternoon was the Olympic Stadi
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| The commission at the Olympic Stadium. (ATR) |
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um, known in Salzburg as Red Bull Arena. The 35,000 seat arena was built just a few years ago and is home to the popular football team.
Austrian President Heinz Fischer landed by helicopter near the stadium as the commission arrived for their look at the arena. Of the three 2014 bid cities, Salzburg is the only one with a 35,000 seat stadium ready to go for opening and closing ceremonies. The stadium will be one of the venues in 2008 for the UEFA championships, an event which will be shared with Switzerland.
Fischer hosted the IOC at a dinner Friday night in the renovated Mozart Haus, the grandest hall of the Salzburg Festival, complete with a ceiling fresco that covers hundreds of square meters.
In his remarks, Fischer promised the
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| The Mozart Haus, site of the dinner for the IOC Commission hosted by Austrian President Heinz Fischer. (ATR) |
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IOC that Austria would do all that is necessary to the Olympics. IOC Commission Chairman Chiharu Igaya saluted Austria for its participation at every Winter Olympics since 1924.
Among the guests were luge great Georg Hackl and figure skating gold medalist Trixi Schube and other Austrian Olympians and Paralympians.
Noticeably absent was Franz Klammer, who despite holding the title of international chairman for the bid, was out of the country on other business. He says he can’t be full-time with the bid until April.
In attendance was Egon Winkler, the leader of the ill-fated bid from Salzburg for 2010. He works with the Austrian Chamber of Commerce.
On the menu: an appetizer of beef in aspic, salmon and local trout terrine with spring salad. Main course was veal medallion with polenta and pea puree. A white curd strudel with vanilla cream and cream parfait with hot sour cherry house was served for dessert. All the wines came from Austria.
Entertainment for the evening was at its best when a string quartet played briefly. A musical/dance performance with a pre-recorded vocal and music track that had something to do with Mozart, was baffling. PyeongChang, which put together a high-energy, live production last month for the IOC dinner, ends up the winner on this obscure front in the battle for the 2014 Olympics.
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